Stonnington Council conceals plans to acquire 450 properties

Stonnington Council has blocked the release of a secret report that would reveal to hundreds of inner suburban home owners and businesses whether the city is planning to buy their properties to turn them into parks.

The document contains a list of up to 450 sites in South Yarra, Toorak, Armadale, Glen Iris, Prahran and Malvern that have been selected under a controversial new 20-year planning strategy.

Less than a dozen affected land owners have so far been officially notified by the council that their properties have been identified as "strategic opportunities" for transformation into parks and open spaces.

But The Sunday Age's bid to have the full list publicly released under freedom of information laws has been denied by the council on the grounds of protecting the "personal privacy" of the land owners.

"The denied material comprises the addresses of third parties. In making this decision I have taken into account, among other things…the possible cause for anxiety disclosure may cause," Stonnington's FOI officer wrote.

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The decision has come despite the council refusing to inform these same land owners – as well as prospective buyers – whether their properties have already been picked for future inclusion in the acquisition program.

Stonnington Council identified the 450 properties several years ago as part of its Strategies for Creating Open Space policy, which is designed to boost the amount of parkland and public spaces in the municipality after years of intense high-rise residential and commercial development.

Under the policy, an unspecified number of properties each year will be considered for a "Public Acquisition Overlay" that would mark them permanently "reserved" as potential public space.

A home owner will only be notified when their property is in the next batch considered in the 20-year program.

The PAO designation, which is applied after consultation with an "independent" planning panel and a council vote, gives the council the "option" of buying the land at some future date. It is also a necessary step in starting the compulsory acquisition process, if it becomes necessary.

The decision to withhold the full list of properties has angered owners, residents and businesses, who complain they are being "kept in the dark" about something that could dramatically effect their lives in the coming months and years.

"When you buy a home you're supposed to be buying control and security. This throws the whole concept up in the air," said one home owner who recently received a PAO notification.

"The problem is all the uncertainty. Is it voluntary? Compulsory? What is the time frame? The council is only protecting their own agenda by not telling everyone now."

The council has stressed that land owners picked for the program are offered an opportunity for "consultation" and "submissions" before any final decision is made to apply the PAO designation.

But a fierce public backlash over the perceived unfairness of the process has already sparked a backdown by council in its bid to lodge a PAO over five properties in Prahran.

A landmark vote set for August was delayed until March 2015 after intense media coverage revealed the scope of the policy and the level of discontent among ratepayers.